Katioi (British Skirmishers)
''The Katioi are skirmishers and their light equipment reflects their role on the battlefield - to harass rather than break the enemy. '' Description Although the wolf is the ruler of the forest, one must not discount the raven. Although the wolf may have the teeth and the strength to bring down his quarry, he lacks the speed and range of the raven, and sometimes the cunning of the raven also. Indeed there are times when the raven, roaming far across this realm, may come across suitable prey and alert to the wolf to its presence. Likewise although the wolf may protect his wild realm from intruders, it is the raven who elicits the coarse cry of alarm and harasses the intruder. The Katioi are the ravens, therefore, of the Pritanoi. They lack the strength and power needed to bring the enemy down, but this does not mean they should be discounted from the field of battle. For it is they, harassing the enemy with insults and hurling weapons at him, which weakens the foe before the wolf like warriors of the Pritanoi move in for the kill. Historically, projectile warfare, even if it was likely considered second in prestige to melee combat, featured heavily in Keltoi mythology. In insular literature, for example, the Keltoi deity Lugus (Lugh in his Irish form) preferred weapons were the throwing spear and the sling. Many of the spears recovered from Iron Age Britain were fashioned with broad blades. This would have made them ideally suited to causing deep wounds and haemorrhaging of internal organs, but they would have been poor at puncturing armour, whilst their shape would have given them poor flight characteristics. Nevertheless there are several example of spear points which are slender and small and it is these which were likely used as javelins. There also exists the strong possibility that javelins in Iron Age Britain were made entirely from organic components. \n\nIn one of the Early Medieval Irish epics, the Táin Bó Cúailnge, the hero Cú Chulainn uses a stick of hazel as a javelin to kill his foe. It is entirely feasible that the Iron Age Britons would have used similar materials to construct javelins. Considering that iron took time to extract and process, it would make sense to construct a disposable weapon such as a javelin from a material which was easy to procure. Possible materials to use would have been hazel, which grows quickly and can be managed so as to produce branches which are thin and straight (and thus ideal for use in javelins), whilst bone may have been used for a blade. Excavations from Saxony have shown that Iron Age Germans were employing spears made entirely of wood, the tip of the spear having been hardened by fire, and such techniques were well within the technical abilities of the Britons. Likewise there are numerous bone artefacts which have been recovered from Iron Age Britain. In the case of one burial from Yorkshire a man was found with what may be a bone point lodged into his neck. Although it is possible that this bone point is simply part of this skeleton which has become displaced, there does exist the possibility that it the remains of a bone tipped javelin, as this man has been shown to have died as a result of combat. Usage The Katioi can be a very dangerous unit when used well. They are cheap to recruit and they have a large number of men to hurl so much javelins. As most of the Pritanoi's enemies like the Celts and the Germans are mostly unarmored, these skirmishers can often force a rout by hurling their many javelins towards their enemy and they have more javelins to spare. They can also be used as bait for missile fire so that you far more important infantry units can receive less casualties. Like all other light skirmishers, the Katioi aren't the best unit in melee and should be kept far away from infantry and especially cavalry as they will easily rout. Category:Units Category:Units available only in EB2 Category:Aedui Category:Arverni Category:Pritanoi